The following is a transcript of remarks by President Bush and Governor Bush after visiting fire station:
Sun City Center Fire Station No. 28
Sun City Center, Florida
THE PRESIDENT: Jeb and I just were briefed by the firefighters here about the dry conditions that are creating hazards for the people — and, Kelley, I appreciate your briefing. He was in charge of putting out that fire yesterday that consumed 450 acres. They think it was caused by a spark out of one of the utility lines.
I've always been impressed by those who are willing to get out and fight the fires, and save lives and save property. I'm surrounded by people who made a career out of that. And I want to thank them for their dedication to service, I want to thank them for the briefing about the threat we find ourselves in, we've got dry and windy conditions.
The good news for the people of Florida is they've got people who are willing to serve and willing to put their lives at risk and willing to fight fires. There's one going on right now, as we speak. Kelley was briefing us on the equipment and manpower that's in place fighting the fire. This is one of these difficult periods for the state of Florida, dealing with the traumatic conditions, as they are.
Obviously, the people need to be real careful — be careful about starting a fire, be careful about throwing used cigarettes out and be mindful these are dangerous conditions, and they ought to be thoughtful about how to conduct their lives so they don't put others in the positions where a fire could destroy them or their property.
Do you want to say something, Jeb?
GOVERNOR BUSH: Well, other than the fact, as the President said, it's actually right that if someone throws a cigarette out on the Interstate it could create — first of all, it's a loss of life and property and puts a lot of people at risk. And it's a felony in our state. So we want to make sure that no fires are started because of human error or negligence or malfeasance.
THE PRESIDENT: Anyway, I want to thank you all for joining me.
